Christmas and the Gang
by rAnsomedrOgue
Summary: a season 2 Christmas adventure for the team.
1. Chapter 1

**Christmas and the Gang**

A/N Written for the Blindspot Holiday project 2019 on Tumblr, only just getting around to posting it now. This is set during the two-week time jump between 2.10 and 2.11. I'm sure it makes no sense that Christmas would fall during that time but the show's own internal timeline is so messy I feel like I can take liberties too…

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Nothing like spending Christmas with your family, Jane thought as she sat on the cold concrete floor outside of Roman's Zero Division cell. Especially when neither of you remember anything about the holidays, what it's all meant to be about.

Jane suspected that holiday celebrations hadn't been a big part of life with Shepherd, she certainly hadn't had any Christmas-related memories pop through. And Roman seemed to be just as much at a loss, though he appreciated the gifts and the take out roast turkey dinner she'd brought him.

But now that the present opening was over they had run out of things to talk about and the terribleness of spending the holiday in a stark concrete bunker was settling in all around them. Roman seemed a bit fidgety too, nervous about her presence.

"Don't you have something better to be doing on Christmas Day?" he asked, giving her a skeptical look.

Jane shook her head, genuinely had nothing else planned that day. The rest of the team was spending the holidays with family; everyone seemed to have relatives in town that year. She was happy that they were all getting a chance to spend time with their loved ones. They deserved it after how hard it had been, especially since the ambush that left so many agents dead.

Terrible waves of guilt still crashed within her whenever Jane thought about what had happened. How it had all been her fault, caught out by Sandstorm's mole. She felt so horrible for Patterson, tortured by someone she loved. And for Reade, who was still recovering from his leg wound. Weller too, even though he hadn't been there for the raid. The guilt he had felt about not being there, being played by Sandstorm. Jane knew it was all on her, that none of this would have happened had she never come up with this plan, erased her own memory.

So of course she didn't have any plans for Christmas Day, the only family she'd ever known probably lost to her forever. And although the environment sucked, at least she had Roman to spend time with. Even if she was just drawing while he read a book, she liked being there, trying to connect with him. He was her only family now, all that she had.

Just then her phone chimed an alert and Jane pulled it out to see that it was her FBI locator app going off, indicating a target on the move, just outside the NYO office. There was no information from Patterson attached to the search though and they weren't actively trying to locate anyone.

"What's that?" Roman asked curiously.

"I don't know," Jane replied. "I'm being given a target to catch but we aren't working on anything right now."

"Are you going to go?" he questioned. "Shouldn't you ask Weller about it before you follow a random signal?"

He had a point, Jane thought. But it was Christmas day and Kurt was busy with family along with everyone else. Also the target was still nearby and she was the only one at the NYO. It was up to her to find out what it was about.

"I don't want to bother him if it turns out to be nothing," Jane said. "I'll go investigate first and if I need back up I'll call it in then."

"You just want something to do that isn't sitting in an underground bunker. I don't blame you, you should be out with your friends," he commented. "So go, if it turns out to be something then at least you'll see them on Christmas."

That was sad, she thought. But true. That the only chance she had of seeing the team on Christmas was if they were called in on an emergency.

"Okay, I'm going," she declared, ready to do anything other than sit around and mope. "I'll see you later Roman. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Jane," her brother replied sincerely.

Jane left the NYO building and started following the tracker uptown. Her quarry looked to be on foot so she walked as well, far enough behind that she wouldn't get made.

It was strange following a signal that she knew nothing about. Jane tracked it for miles and miles until she was in Central Park, amidst families all celebrating Christmas.

Finally, her target had stopped moving, seemed to be staying among the many people ice skating on a large rink in front of her. Jane stared at the crowd of skaters and realized that she had no hope of finding an unknown subject out on the ice. Especially since she wasn't sure if she knew how to skate and had no reason for even chasing this person.

She was about to give up the search, glad to have at least gotten some outdoor exercise and entertainment, when a familiar figure caught her eye. Jane turned her attention back to the ice rink, stared at the object of her interest.

It was definitely Assistant Director Kurt Weller, skating with his nephew and his sister. Even from that distance she could tell that he was laughing at Sarah, who was rather wobbly on her skates.

Jane stood there staring, thinking that it couldn't be a coincidence. The city was huge and the tracker had led her to exactly where Weller was. But it didn't make any sense. She was sure that Kurt had not set it up, would not want her at this family outing.

She felt like a creep even watching them from the edge of the rink and had just turned to leave when a familiar voice called out her name.

Jane turned back, felt like she had been caught spying. But then again, it was Christmas. And now at least she would get to see Kurt for a minute, although the circumstances were odd.

Weller was just skidding to a stop in front of her, wearing a slightly confused smile

"Jane," he repeated, a bit out of breath from hurrying over. "Hey."


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt Weller chased his nephew around the crowded ice of the Wollman rink, thinking how he hadn't done something like this in years. Though he still thought it was very strange that Sarah won free tickets specifically for Christmas Day, especially since she couldn't remember having entered any contests. And didn't even live in New York anymore.

But something something about looking a gift horse in the mouth, and what could be sinister about a family ice skating excursion on Christmas?

He hadn't been on skates since he was a kid but he hadn't forgotten how, though it took him a few times around to get his balance again. Sawyer wasn't bad either, considering he was only ten and hadn't been ice skating very many times. But Weller had to really keep an eye out for his sister who had already almost crashed into other skaters a few times that day.

He was scanning the crowd for Sarah when he spied a familiar movement at the edge of a group of people watching the skaters. He couldn't consciously determine what it was that he saw but Kurt knew he had to investigate, went over to check.

Weller tried to keep his eye on his target as he skated to the edge of the rink but it was difficult amongst the holiday crowds. Still, he was able to spot her just as she was turning to leave, could easily identify the way her body moved.

"Jane!" he hollered, unsure what to make of her appearance here. It could just be a coincidence, maybe she was out for a walk and happened to stop and watch.

Or maybe it was the universe trying to do him a favour.

Luckily Jane must have heard him, because she turned back towards the rink and watched as he thankfully managed to skid to a stop without falling.

"Jane," he called again, slightly out of breath. "Hey."

Jane smiled, came down to meet him at the edge of the ice.

"Hey Kurt," she said, a bit shyly. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," he replied. "What are you doing here?"

Jane looked at him nervously and Weller wondered what she could possibly be worried about, then thought about how adorable she was with that little furrow in her brow.

Stop it, he admonished himself mentally. It was a constant battle to keep inappropriate Jane-related thoughts out of his head. Even after everything that had happened between them. Maybe because of everything that had happened between them.

"This is going to sound weird," she started, pulling out her phone and showing him the indicator on her locator app. "But this started going off when I was with Roman and it was right outside the NYO so I followed it. And it led me here."

"You followed a lead on your own without knowing anything about it?" he exclaimed, already looking around the rink in alarm, searching for possible danger. "Why didn't you call me?"

Jane sighed, pulled into a defensive posture.

"It's Christmas and I didn't want to disturb you if it turned out to be nothing. Which it did," she grumbled.

Dammit, he thought. He always did this, made her pissed off by being too overprotective.

Weller took a few deep breaths, told himself to calm down. It was Christmas, and nothing nefarious seemed to be happening at the ice rink. Plus, Jane was right there, what else could he want from life?

"Sorry," he apologized. "I just don't like the idea of you being out there on your own."

Jane's expression softened and she gave him a small shrug.

"Good thing it led me to you then," she said, her green eyes flickering playfully.

Every day he loved her more. He could admit that to himself now.

"We should find out if you know how to skate," he said, the line coming to him out of nowhere. "Someday it might be required for tactical purposes."

Jane flashed a sly grin and he knew he'd already won.

"Well, when you put it that way, it does seem pretty important to find out," she replied mock seriously.

Weller grinned, unsure what to make of of his good luck. But for once he wasn't going to let his worries get in the way.

"Let's get you some skates," he said.

They rented some skates for Jane and immediately Kurt knew he was in trouble. She laced them up like a pro and walked over to the ice confidently, then stepped onto the rink and started skating away from him faster than he could manage.

Goddammit, he thought. She was good at everything.

It was nice to have a goal though, someone to chase. Kurt dodged other skaters, keeping his eyes on Jane whipping about, but try as he might, he couldn't catch up to her until she mercifully stopped.

"That was fun!" she gasped, her cheeks ridiculously pink.

"I guess ice skating is part of Navy SEAL training now," he commented, impressed by her as always.

Jane grinned and shrugged.

"Maybe I had to go undercover as a Canadian," she conjectured. "Part of the essential skill set."

Weller laughed at the impish look on her face, more relaxed than he'd seen her in awhile. Things had been so dire for Jane ever since she escaped from the black site, her life always in danger. At least now she was done with the Sandstorm missions, being a double agent. He slept so much better knowing she wasn't out there alone with a bunch of terrorists.

He would sleep even better if she were close enough to personally observe.

Kurt shook the thought out of his head but couldn't stop himself from offering her his hand, feeling as nervous as a schoolboy. And his heart thumped in his chest when she snaked her fingers between his, grasped his hand tightly.

"So, you think you're qualified to catch a perp on skates?" Jane asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Not if that perp is you, for the crime of stealing my heart.

Thankfully Weller managed to keep his corny line to himself, tried to shake the thought out of his head.

"I think I'll leave that one up to the undercover Canadians," he said instead.

They made their way around the rink a few more times, Jane tugging him along. Kurt was just looking around for his sister and his nephew when a teenage girl started skating right beside them.

"Kurt Weller?" the girl said. "This is for you."

She produced a plain white envelope and he took it without thinking, so bewildered by the situation that he didn't even notice the delivery girl skate away.

They slid to a stop and Weller looked at Jane in surprise. He could see that she was also confused, looking at the envelope with suspicion.

Unless it was some sort of chemical or biological agent, there wasn't much that could fit in the envelope in his hand. Really, it did not appear dangerous so Weller threw all caution to the wind and just opened it.

Inside was a pair of tickets to the rare Christmas Day NFL game that afternoon, the seats were even quite good. Kurt glanced around again, baffled, but the courier was long gone by then. All he saw was Jane, standing in front of him, a frosty rosy delight, biting her lower lip in anticipation.

He should be suspicious, ready for some elaborate set up. But it was Christmas, and he had Jane right there, two tickets to the game in his hand.

It was a good thing his nephew and sister had other plans for the afternoon, wouldn't be into a football game anyhow.

"Bet you've never been to a football game," Weller said with a grin. "Beer and hot dogs are on me. But we can't tell Zapata and Reade about these tickets, they would give us so much crap about not being real football fans."


	3. Chapter 3

Tasha Zapata was not a holiday person, couldn't be bothered with all the lights and tinsel that just had to come back down afterwards. And family gatherings generally led to too many insinuations about boyfriends and babies and the life she'd chosen.

Though she could get down with the whole drinking aspect of the season; in fact, saw alcohol as her only chance at surviving the ordeal.

Case in point she was already a few drinks in and it was only early afternoon. She had started with a bloody Mary at breakfast, a little hair of the dog to chase away the remnants of the previous night. And then of course she had to have a celebratory mimosa as well, followed by another glass of champagne.

Tasha sighed, felt the need to both slow things down and speed it all up. She was not usually that hard a drinker, not anymore. It had been bad at one point, after her partner had died on the job while she was with the NYPD. But then alcohol had started to take a toll on her job performance and she had just managed to shut it down before it got in the way of her future. But really she'd only replaced one bad habit with another, more expensive one.

Since then she only drank socially and not usually to excess. But things had been stressful as fuck at work pretty much ever since Jane showed up just over six months ago. First with Carter blackmailing her then with Weitz doing the same shit. She was done with shady powerful men screwing with her life. She wanted the ability to take them all down.

The tattoos were such a mind fuck because of that. They pointed at corruption and created action, which Zapata loved. But Jane had been planted by terrorists, hell Jane was a terrorist before she wiped her own memory. It was still hard for Tasha not to think of Jane as anything but the Trojan horse she was meant to be. Especially with Weller being so insanely sure that Jane was on their side, unwilling to even consider the idea that she could be stringing them along.

But then again, when had Weller ever been objective about Jane? Even when she had just escaped the CIA and come back, he hadn't been able to shoot her, despite Jane trying to goad him into doing it. Tasha had stepped up with no qualms at all, had been more worried that she wouldn't stop at one shot than she had been about shooting their former teammate.

And then ever since, Weller had trusted Jane, had consistently been worried for her, not about her. Even when he'd been angry as hell, didn't want Jane around. He had been disproportionately concerned about her, never wavered in his support for her.

It was hard for Tasha to wrap her head around, especially since what happened at the Sandstorm compound, the explosion that had caused so many deaths. She wanted to blame Jane, because she had led them there, because she had started this all by lying to them in the first place. But Zapata knew deep down that Jane was with them, that she had been from the start. Sure, she had made mistakes but Tasha had fucked up too, sold her teammate out to the CIA. She still felt guilty about that and about sleazy fucking Matthew Weitz.

The truth was, Zapata just wanted to have someone to pin the blame on, someone that wasn't herself. Jane had gotten played, outed by her own plan, her own recruit. But she had almost died too and was doing her best to fix the mistakes of her past. So it was hard to be too mad at her.

After all, none of them had suspected Borden of being a mole, so that was on all of them. Tasha shuddered, thought about how she had encouraged Patterson to go out with him. And now Patterson had been horribly hurt both physically and mentally, was still trying to repress all the trauma she had gone through. Zapata had even tried to convince her to spend Christmas together, because she knew her friend would spend the day working from home, hiding from the world. But of course Patterson had declined the invite, mumbled some excuse about having to skype with her parents.

Zapata sighed, hated being half-cut and maudlin, wanted to just call Reade up and bitch to him about the holiday season, all the crap in their lives. But of course even that relationship had gone to shit since he had unexpectedly come on to her.

Now that was a topic she wasn't meant to think about. She had been so shocked in the moment, unsure how to respond. Her first thought had been 'this is a terrible idea'. Her second thought, 'but possibly terrible in a very good way'.

Of course she had run away instead of confronting it, cut it off quickly and hopefully permanently so she wouldn't ever have to make that choice again. Because the thought of having a relationship with Reade made Zapata extremely nervous in a way she didn't want to explore.

Tasha shook her head, annoyed with herself. She was moping by herself on the couch while the rest of the family was in the kitchen helping prepare dinner. But the thought of joining in with them wasn't appealing either, would just lead to more drinking and behaviour that she'd end up regretting.

Thankfully there was a knock on the door just at that moment and no one else could hear it due to the din in the kitchen. Zapata figured that any distraction was better than nothing, wondered who could be at the door on Christmas Day when everyone invited was already there.

She answered the door and it was a courier, with an envelope generically addressed to Female FBI Agent. Which made no sense at all, to receive mail not in her name; especially since she was at her grandma's house and not her own. But the courier didn't know anything about the package, just said it was for a female FBI agent at that address, handed it to her and left.

Tasha did a visual inspection of the envelope, then probed it with her fingers. It seemed like nothing except paper was inside. Which didn't mean there wasn't any risk but Zapata was drunk and curious so she slit it open anyways.

Inside were two lower tier tickets to the NY Giants game that afternoon, great seats that she could never afford for herself. Zapata ran into the kitchen and interrogated her family until she was satisfied that none of them had any idea about where the envelope had come from. When it was clear that the tickets were a gift from an unknown deity, Tasha shrugged and decided it did not matter who had sent them, even if it was some sort of trap.

She was going to the football game! And of course she knew what she needed to do next. No matter how awkward things would be. If she went to this game without taking Reade, he would hold it against her for life. And really there was no one else she wanted to go with, even with the weirdness between them.

Zapata pulled out her phone, dialed his number.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a pretty shit year, Edgar Reade concluded as he watched his relatives argue about politics, the government. Sometimes they seemed to forget he worked for the FBI, that the whole distrust of authority thing pissed him off.

Though he had to admit he was seeing things in a different light since they had started investigating the tattoo cases. As screwed up as it was to be lead by terrorists into an anti-corruption effort, it had highlighted a lot of the problems in the system.

Then again the same terrorists had just tried to kill him, his leg still not quite a hundred percent after nearly two weeks of recovery. Though he was determined to go back to work after Christmas, had enough of sitting around and thinking about all the things that had gone wrong in his life recently.

The whole Coach Jones situation. Freddy. That tape he hadn't watched yet. All this was hanging over his head, tinted every thought.

That and the other thing.

Zapata.

Damn. In some ways that was worse to think about than the possible childhood abuse he'd suffered. He hadn't talked to her since he'd made a move on her, mistaken her sympathy for something else.

Reade told himself it was the drugs, emotional residue from almost dying in that explosion. That he didn't want to make out with his best friend, that he hadn't always wondered what it would be like if they fucked.

It was Tasha. His partner, his wingman. She was off limits and he'd screwed it up.

She would forgive him of course. But it was going to be awkward between them for awhile. Zapata was not going to want to talk about it, her disdain of any discussions involving feelings well documented. And she was going to bug him about it forever.

Reade sighed to himself, wished he was anywhere else so that he could at least stop lying about how he injured his leg, stop feeling so disconnected from his family.

Of course he really just wanted to be with Tasha, despite all the ribbing he would take from her. He couldn't stop thinking about waking up to her holding his hand, that worried expression on her face. It still made him feel less sorry for himself, even if he had messed it up afterwards.

Reade had just decided to have another drink, try to knock all thoughts of Tasha Zapata of his head when his phone rang, and of course, it was Zapata.

"You have an hour to get to Metlife stadium, I have tickets to the game. Don't ask questions, don't tell me you can't ditch your cousins," she stated firmly. "I'll see you there."

Well, that was unexpected and slightly bewildering, he thought to himself. And yet, Zapata had said she had tickets to the game so it was a pretty big risk to ask questions, challenge her conditions.

Reade pushed himself to his feet, made the rounds and effectively ditched his relatives with excuses of an urgent work matter. It was only half a lie, he figured. Tasha was from work and free tickets to an NFL game could certainly be construed as an urgent situation.

With that settled, he got an uber, wondering what the hell was going on. Zapata had sounded serious but possibly drunk. Which could go all kinds of sideways considering their recent history.

Damn, he hated overthinking things with Tasha. They had always been such good friends. He would just play it cool, act like nothing had happened unless she brought it up.

Reade got out of the car at the stadium, looked around and spotted Zapata right away. She saw him too and came walking over, waving the two tickets in her hand.

"Look at these seats!" she crowed as she held the tickets right up to his face. "I've never sat this close before."

"Where did these tickets come from?" Reade asked, suspicions aroused. There's no way Zapata got them from family, not at the price of NFL games those days. And she was obviously already way past tipsy, had that looseness to her body language.

"Courier showed up at my grandma's place, had an envelope for me," Tasha admitted. "All that was in it was the tickets."

"What?" Reade asked. "That's nuts, Tasha. Wait. This envelope just says Female FBI Agent, it's not even addressed to your name. And how did a courier know to go to your grandma's house with something for you? I can't believe you opened it, there could have been anthrax in there or something."

"You think I didn't think of that?" Zapata replied hotly. "But it felt like just paper, no powder or anything. And I was pretty drunk so I just went for it."

"Oh you're pretty drunk are you?" he teased. "I couldn't tell."

"Screw you, Reade," she replied easily. "So we going to this game or not?"

Damn, well obviously they were going to end up at the game, he realized. No matter how strange the circumstances of the tickets were. They were there and they had amazing seats.

"Well, it's really weird," he declared. "I think we should do our due diligence and check it out, make sure it's nothing."

Tasha grinned at him winningly and they headed into the stadium, searched for their seats. It was almost game time so they hurried, as fast as his healing leg could manage. Of course Zapata still managed to stop for drinks too, was clearly getting ready for a rowdy time.

When they got nearer to their seats Reade started to feel a sense of something odd. He couldn't quite put his finger on it until he looked down the row at the only empty seats left and saw a strip of tattooed skin.

As he and Zapata made their way down to their seats, Weller and Jane stood up too, looking as confused as he was.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Tasha exclaimed loudly.

Weller shrugged, looked suspicious but not overly worried. Which was unusual in itself.

"We were skating in Central Park when a teenager approached me with an envelope and then took off," he explained. "These tickets were in the envelope. What about you?"

"So weird, basically the same shit. Courier came to my grandma's place with an envelope for me," Tasha replied. "No way to trace it so I thought I better go to the game and rescue Reade from being a sad sack on Christmas."

Damn, she was pretty drunk already, he thought yet again.

"Wait, you guys were skating?" Zapata asked, switching tracks.

Both Weller and Jane started blushing, looking away shyly though it wasn't exactly a surprise to anyone. Even after she had been exposed as a liar, Weller still looked at her the same desperate way. The way that said I think about you all the time even though I know I shouldn't.

"Yeah well the locator tracker on my phone just started going off, and I followed it to the rink," Jane explained hastily. "And Weller was there with his sister and nephew but he made me go skating. For tactical purposes."

It was clearly an inside joke of some kind because Kurt grinned idiotically at her, the way he does when he thinks no one is looking.

"There's been a lot of strange things going on today," Reade concluded, looking at his teammates. "All of which to set us up to be here. Should we not be worried?"

He didn't want to be the guy who put a damper on things but they were fighting a terrorist organization with a huge reach. What if they were targeting the game and trying to take the team down with the rest of the stadium?

"Oh lighten up Eddie," Zapata said, stressing the nickname she liked to annoy him with. "It's Christmas and it's football. Look at these seats! And even Weller is drinking beer. So relax and take this."

She passed him a beer and he didn't have much choice but to let go of his misgivings, sit back and drink his beverage, enjoy the game and the fact that Tasha was too drunk to care about the current state of their relationship. After all, she was right. Even Weller seemed loose, was explaining the rules of football to Jane, leaning in closer than necessary even with the loudness of the crowd.

The game was a close one, with the Giants scoring first but the visiting Steelers coming right back to tie it. It went back and forth all game right up to the start of the fourth quarter, which started with the Giants up by three.

Tasha was trying to get a rise out of Weller by dissing the Pennsylvania-based football teams with Jane looking on in amusement when the game went to commercial break on television and the in-arena entertainment started flashing on the jumbotron.

Reade looked up and saw that it was the Kiss Cam, groaned inwardly feeling like the universe was poking fun at his mistake. The camera flashed to a few different couples who all seemed happy to satisfy the crowd's desire to see smooching.

And then he saw a familiar hair flip on the screen, a toss of long brown strands that he would recognize anywhere.

"You're on the screen, Tasha!" he shouted, even though she was sitting right next to him.

Now he could see Weller too, and the cameraman was flashing between showing just Weller and Zapata on the screen to just Weller and Jane. It was clear what the question was, the only thing Reade was unsure about was whether Kurt had drunk enough beer to answer it.

What he had never anticipated was that Jane had drunk enough beer and had such epically low alcohol tolerance that she was the one to step up and answer the question for the cameraman. She leaned over and kissed Weller, tentatively for about a nanosecond before they were both all in, unstoppable.

Zapata grinned like a maniac watching, turned to Reade and winked.

"You think I should have gone for it before Jane jumped him?" she asked.

Reade laughed and looked back at the jumbotron just then, saw, to his dismay, that the kiss cam had only just moved over two seats and was firmly focused on Tasha and him.

Shit, he thought. Like a fucking nightmare come to life.

Or like a dream.

Because Zapata was now wasted, like probably not going to remember the second half of the game wasted. And so she reached up to pull him towards her, was kissing him before he even realized what the hell was going on.

It took him half a moment to decide that he had better just go with it. To try and control Tasha at that point would have been pointless. And even if she did remember, there was no doubt who made the move this time.

Reade pulled her to him, the kiss lasting longer than he expected. It felt so good to be connected with Tasha at that level, so illicit too. He didn't want it to end, kept reaching for her lips even as she drunkenly pulled away, flashed him a self-satisfied look.

"I didn't do that," she slurred at him seriously.

Reade was still stunned, Weller and Jane too by all appearances. They all stared at Tasha in amazement, barely noticed as the jumbotron announced that they were all winners in the contest, that a team representative would be by shortly to give them their prizes.

When the prize arrived it was again just a plain envelope, with what appeared to be cardboard inside. No one even questioned the safety of the situation this time around and Reade opened the envelope to reveal five tickets to the Rockettes show at Radio City Music Hall that night.

Jane voiced what they must all have been thinking.

"That doesn't make any sense. There are four of us why would they give us five tickets?"

But of course none of it made any sense at all. From the tracker that had sent Jane to the ice rink, to the envelopes with the football tickets in them. The Broadway tickets were just another oddity along the way. And it was obvious to all of them who the fifth ticket was meant for.

So they all hopped into a cab, ready to spread their weird Christmas luck.


	5. Chapter 5

Patterson had reverted to an old coping mechanism. Whenever her feelings had overwhelmed her as a child, she had hidden away in her closet by herself. For whatever reason it had helped her feel like her emotions were contained within that space, that they couldn't follow her out into the world and upset her there.

Not that she was hiding in a closet. But her apartment was her closet now, or her lab at work. A place where she could hide away from the world and pretend it didn't exist. Trick herself into believing that none of the horrible things that had happened to her that year could hurt her.

She had lied to her family, told them she had to work on Christmas so she couldn't make her usual visit home. There was no way she could have dealt with seeing her parents. She would have fallen apart with them, and they would have gotten it out of her somehow. The whole terrible ordeal, at least everything that wasn't classified. And there's no way Patterson could have dealt with that. She wasn't ready to tell her story, wasn't sure she ever would be.

So she had hidden away with junk food and her pain. Tasha had asked her if she wanted to spend Christmas with her but Patterson had declined her friend's well-intentioned invite. Like everyone else, Zapata just wanted to help. But Patterson wasn't the kind of person that accepted help easily, or at all.

She was already far into the second Lord of the Rings movie, the extended cut of course, when there was a knock at her door. Patterson considered who it could be at dinnertime on Christmas Day, then stopped to grab her service weapon on her way to the door.

Patterson opened it a crack and was not particularly surprised to find Tasha Zapata there, reeking of alcohol and hollering somewhat incoherently. She was, however, quite shocked to find Reade, Weller, and Jane on her doorstep as well, all of them also exhibiting various levels of inebriation.

They all yelled Merry Christmas at her together, a bit out of sync but overall it was still pretty adorable. Even when she was at her worst, at least her friends could make her smile. Especially when Zapata was rambling about the Giants game, the kiss cam, tickets to the Rockettes show and everyone else looked somewhere between self-satisfied and embarrassed.

"Wait, did you just say Jane and Weller won the kiss cam contest?" Patterson exclaimed, all her troubles put aside for the moment.

Jane blushed like crazy, then shook her head in desperate denial.

"No," she replied. "There's no way we would have won without Tasha and Reade jumping in on the action."

"What!" Patterson yelped. "I would have sat through football to see that."

"I was drunk!" Tasha shouted, as if it wasn't obvious. "And Jane's right, I totally won us these Rockettes tickets. So let's go. Our cab is waiting for you, Patterson."

Leaving her apartment and going to a cheesy Christmas Broadway show was the last thing that Patterson wanted to do. But she didn't want to argue with her team, especially with a wasted Zapata. And she had to admit it was kind of nice to see them all together on the holiday.

So Patterson quickly got ready to go out and they pulled up to the show just in time to get to their seats before it started. Just like the football tickets, their seats were great, the dancers right there in front of them.

The show was better than Patterson expected and she found herself getting into the magical dance scenes, especially because Jane was sitting beside her, as wide-eyed as a child watching the spectacle. Patterson thought about how nice it was to see everyone so comfortable with Jane again, that they were together for Christmas after such a brutal year for all of them.

Maybe it wasn't so bad that she wasn't able to complete the Lord of the Rings trilogy by herself, that these mysterious things had been happening to the team all day. Even though she felt like she should be more suspicious of everything, the oddness of it all. The rest of them seemed to have thrown all logic out the door, probably due to the holiday drinking. But Patterson was still on the lookout for some sort of trap, anything strange.

It finally happened near the end of the show, during the big finale. Patterson saw a man sneak onto the stage, pull out a gun. Then another man stood up in the middle of the crowd and fired a shot into the air.

Both men started running after that and the team mobilized quickly despite the amount of alcohol still affecting them. They all pulled out their weapons and split up to chase the two different gunmen. Jane and Weller followed the guy from the stage while Patterson, Zapata and Reade chased the man in the crowd.

Patterson ran ahead, glad that at least someone was sober amongst the five of them. The man they were chasing made for the emergency stairs, then started heading up towards the roof. Patterson followed close behind, her gun drawn and ready for action.

When they finally got up to the roof, the man they were after was nowhere to be seen. Patterson, Zapata and Reade looked at each other, befuddled. There was no way he could have escaped them.

Just then, another door to the roof opened and Jane and Weller appeared out of it, looking just as confused as Patterson felt.

"What the hell?" Weller yelled. "I saw our target come up here, he would have run right into you guys. Where is he?"

"Same thing happened to us," Patterson replied. "We got on the roof and our guy had just disappeared."

She tried to say something more but found herself being drowned out by the sound of an incoming helicopter. Patterson looked up to see what looked like an FBI chopper about to land on the same roof they were on. The team all pulled back to a safe distance and stared at each other, clearly all baffled by the situation.

When the helicopter finally landed, an FBI agent jumped out and called out their names, said there was an urgent situation that their presence was needed for. Weller questioned the agent and seemed to be satisfied with the answers he got because he waved them into the chopper, told them all it seemed legit.

Except for the part where no one at the FBI could have known that they would be at the Rockettes show, much less on the roof at that exact moment. Unless Weller had called it in, but even so, that seemed like a huge stretch.

Patterson exhaled worriedly, wondered what they were getting themselves into. Her teammates were still somewhat drunk and they weren't properly armed or dressed for a mission. Yet she wouldn't want to be anywhere else at the moment, certainly not at home alone while her friends were together on a sketchy Christmas field op. Despite the large possibility that they were walking straight into an elaborate trap.


	6. Chapter 6

As her beer buzz started to fade and the situation became less shrouded with alcohol, worry began to creep up Jane's neck. Even though Weller had checked the agent's ID and authorization, none of it made any sense at all. How could a helicopter have known that they would be chasing disappearing suspects on the roof of Radio City Music Hall?

But at least she was the team. Christmas had already been better than expected, even if it did end up with them abducted. Jane flushed at the memory of skating with Weller, his hand warm in hers. Then reaching up to kiss him in front of an entire stadium full of people. She still couldn't believe she had done that. Well, yes she could. She had been quite drunk and it's not like she didn't still think about how perfect it had felt, the first time she found a moment just for them. Right before her life got exponentially complicated.

The helicopter began to descend in a densely wooded area, presumably in upstate New York based on the direction and time traveled. When it landed, there was nothing nearby except a cabin, all lit up with Christmas lights on the outside.

They all got out of the chopper and it flew away without giving them any more information on why they were there. The pilot had claimed to know nothing except that where he was meant to drop them off, that further instructions would be given once they arrived.

Everyone drew their weapons and they split up into groups to do a perimeter check of the building before entering. Jane and Weller went around back, saw that the cabin had a nice deck and a fire pit, with a bonfire already going, more wood piled nearby. They approached the back door and the windows that looked out onto the deck. It didn't appear that anyone was inside, but it was lit and prepped for festivities.

Jane reached for the doorknob, wasn't all that surprised to find it unlocked. The day had been extremely strange already, she was no longer shocked by anything.

When she opened the door and walked into the cabin Jane was assaulted by multiple aromas all at once. The scents of roasted turkey and pine trees and spiced cider tickled her nose as she looked around to see a full Christmas dinner laid out on the table, along with copious amounts of alcohol, and mistletoe. A lot of mistletoe.

Jane looked at Weller, saw that he appeared to be as confused as she was. Just then the rest of the team entered the cabin through the front door and they all stood around staring at the table full of food, the absurd amount of decorations.

"What's that?" Patterson asked, pointing at a package in the middle of the table.

It was a slim gift-wrapped item, arranged as the centrepiece with a placard that said "The Gang". Weller grabbed it and tore off the paper.

"It's a tablet," he stated, handing it to Patterson.

Patterson took the device and looked it over, powered it up.

"It's only got one video on it," she reported.

"Well play it," Zapata urged. "So we can start drinking again."

Patterson pressed play on the video and a familiar face appeared on the screen, followed by his equally familiar, grating voice. Weller groaned as soon as he heard who it was and Jane sighed as well, shook her head in exasperation.

"Merry Christmas my FBI friends! Or Happy Hannukah, if you prefer, though I think that was done days ago and none of you present as Jewish. Anyways, happy holidays from your friendly neighbourhood felon, I hope you've all had a better day than I've had. Which isn't exactly hard considering I'm enjoying the fine amenities of the federal penitentiary system. Not that I'm complaining, but there isn't a lot of opportunity to go ice skating or to a football game or to a Broadway musical. Or even just to have Christmas dinner with your family."

Patterson pressed pause and they all looked at each other, stunned.

"Rich did this? How?" Weller grunted irritably. "He's in prison. And why would he do this?"

"I bet he tells us," Reade commented dryly. "Let's hear what else he's got to say."

Patterson pressed play again and the video of Rich continued.

"So I bet you guys are wondering how I did this all from my cold lonely prison cell. But what you should be asking is _why_ I did this all from my cold lonely prison cell. Because the thing is, criminals, they really can be such gossips. And word on the street was my favourite FBI team just took some hits so I thought to myself, Rich, it is your duty to give your good friends at the bureau a Christmas together. So I did this for you. Well, really, I did it for Stubbles and Jane but they're such suckers for the rest of you that I couldn't leave anyone out. Well, except for that scary NSA lady, I definitely left her out. That was for you, Jane."

Rich paused and winked at that point, leaving time for everyone to stare at Jane and Weller who were both blushing, trying not to look at each other. Jane shook her head and bit down hard on her lower lip trying to tame the pitter patter that her heart made at Rich's words.

"So that's it. I did this all so you guys would spend Christmas together, like a family should. Well, that and you know, there's the whole I scratch your ass, you scratch mine kind of thing. I figure a favour owed by my FBI compadres is always a plus. Also, on an unrelated note, did you know I get conjugal visits? Jane, Weller, that's for your info. Although I think it's a one at a time thing in here, the federal prison system isn't in on threesome cultures yet, they're not very progressive that way."

Jane looked at Kurt, could see his jaw grinding as he glared at the image of Rich. She had to grin though, as much as Rich annoyed the crap out of her too, at least he was consistent. And he had done a very thoughtful expensive thing for them, had given them all a great day at a difficult time.

"Anyways, that's all I wanted to say from my sad cold corner of the inmate world. Please think of me while you enjoy the luxuries of the outside. And the next time we meet, remember I could have had you all killed instead of sending you on a romantic adventure."

With that the screen went dark and Christmas music came on to replace Rich's voice. For a moment they all just looked at each other trying to process what had happened. But then Tasha grabbed a bottle of wine off the table and started pouring herself a glass, so Weller shrugged and popped open beer for himself too. After that they took down the dinner in record time, Jane eating more than she ever had in a single sitting and then getting laughed at by the rest of the group by moaning about how much she regretted her second plateful.

"Oh my god, she doesn't know about wearing pants with elastic waistbands for holidays," Zapata exclaimed. "Or about saving room for dessert."

Jane joined in the laughter because she genuinely didn't know about either of those things, had never considered eating so much that her pants would feel uncomfortable. Or that there could be another whole course after the huge amount of food they'd already eaten. Usually when she was reminded of her lifetime of missing memories Jane would feel empty, disconnected. But this time she suspected she had never had a Christmas as full of happiness before, that the previous holidays of her life had not been full of turkey and pumpkin pie.

After dinner, Jane felt the need to move around a bit so she walked out back for some fresh air and added some wood to the fire that had died down while they ate. Once the bonfire was going again she stood by it absorbing the warmth, watching the flickering flames.

She heard the patio door open and looked up to see Weller walking towards her. Rich's innuendo came back to her in the moment and she almost blushed again. Despite the fairy tale day, the ridiculous kiss cam situation, Jane knew that Kurt wasn't hers, would likely never be. His trust in her was still fragile, he had barely just started treating her as a friend again. And he was sleeping with Nas, obviously was not looking to start a relationship with a former terrorist.

Weller came to stand next to her at the fire, huddling up close to her and looking up at the sky.

"It's starting to snow," he commented, a lazy smile on his face.

She loved seeing him like that, so at ease with everything. She knew things had been hard for him lately, that he was troubled by Shepherd's role in his life. It had to have been terrible to find out you'd been watched from afar, every since you were a kid. And despite the merry atmosphere and alcohol, she felt bad about having planned this all with Shepherd, no matter what she was doing to counter it now.

"Yeah, it's so pretty," she replied.

Jane looked up at Weller, wondered if he had come out to talk to her for a reason. She wished things could be easy between them again, that she could heal all the hurt wrought by her lies. But she had broken a fundamental trust between them and she didn't know if Kurt could ever truly forgive her for everything she had done, everything she kept from him.

She was still searching for something to say when Weller turned to look at her, wearing a slightly anxious expression. Jane braced herself for some sort of disappointment, though she couldn't imagine what she was so afraid of. Kurt had been so kind to her all day, she supposed she was just worried because the fairy tale had to end some time.

"So, um, Jane," Weller started, glancing at her nervously. "I know we didn't talk about this, and I don't want to put you on the spot."

Now she was really confused, her shoulders starting to tense up with fear about whatever bomb he's about to drop on Christmas, of all days.

"What are you talking about Kurt?" she managed to squeak out, her heart rate ramping up with anticipation.

Weller sighed, pulled something out of his pocket.

"I got you something for Christmas. I know, I shouldn't have, so there's no reason to feel bad that you didn't get me anything. But I saw it and it made me think of you. It was an impulse thing and it was probably a mistake. And then I brought it skating because I wanted to figure how to give it to you without it being weird and so I had it here with me..."

"Kurt, you're rambling," Jane interrupted, taking the small box from his hand, feeling her heart flutter.

Weller had given her something in a similar box before and the moment caught in her chest, stopped her in her tracks. But she could tell that this was something different, that it was something for her, not Taylor.

Jane opened the box to reveal a vibrant green gemstone, cut sharp and shaped like a miniature dagger. She pulled the pendent out to admire it closely, run her fingers admiringly over the sharp edges.

"Kurt, it's gorgeous," she said. "But I can't accept this."

Kurt silently reached out to take the necklace from her and put it around her neck.

"Yes it is," he agreed. "And yes you can."

"It's the colour of your eyes," he murmured in her ear. "And its beautiful, but deadly. Just like you."

Maybe Christmas really was a magical season. Or maybe she was just delusional.

But either way, Weller was saying absurd things to her and Jane was going to run with it.

"I love it," she replied, unable to form any more coherent words. "Thank you, Kurt. I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Weller shook his head, smiled at her winningly.

"This day together, being here right now to give it to you. That's everything I could have wanted," he replied.

Honestly it's everything she could have wanted too. This day with her team, the people she considered to be her family. And time with Kurt, without the endless stress of their regular lives.

Still Jane wished she had gotten something for him, just had never thought that he would buy her a Christmas present. Especially something that was so thoughtful, and, by all appearances, expensive too. She had thought about whether she was meant to buy something for Kurt but wouldn't have been able to get him anything much, considering her meagre asset stipend. Still, she could have drawn him something, or tried her hand at baking something chocolatey. Now though, it was obviously too late to remedy the situation.

Or was it?

For an instant Jane's mind turned to the gaudy Christmas decorations in the cabin, then to her own favourite memory of the day.

She looked at Weller wistfully, glad he couldn't read what was going on in her mind. They were friends again and that was already more than she expected. And he wasn't hers, no matter how much she wanted him.

But that moment of letting it all go, reaching up for his lips in front of a roaring stadium. It kept coming back to her, taunting her.

'What would Rich do?'

The question flashed through her mind, seemingly out of nowhere. And there was clearly only one answer.

"This is everything that I want," she replied as she reached her arms up around Kurt's neck, pulled him towards her until their lips met.

Again, the kiss was soft and shy to start but Weller's initial surprised hesitation only lasted a split second before his hands came up to her face, and his mouth started exploring hers hungrily.

Jane had never felt more connected, passionate, content. Being wrapped up in Kurt, the heat of his body warming her in intense unfamiliar ways. She pulled him to her fiercely and ran her fingers down the back of his neck, trying to permanently record the moment in her memory.

She was just thinking she could just stand there and make out with Kurt forever when the patio door opened again and she heard Zapata's voice hollering a half-joking warning about no more kissing.

Weller pulled away at the interruption, then looked at her with dazed eyes.

Jane grinned, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth playfully at him.

"Merry Christmas, Kurt," she whispered.

Weller broke into a huge smile, slung his arm around her shoulders.

"This whole day was a dream right?" he replied. "I'm pretending none of this ever happened."

Jane knew what he meant, felt the same way herself as the rest of the team came up to join them around the fire. It was Christmas and she was with her family, wrapped up in Kurt Weller's arms, with him insisting that she's too thin, needed to be kept warm.

So, of course, Jane chose to not tell him that it was already the warmest she had felt in ages, that she couldn't possibly dream up a better Christmas. Instead she just snuggled into Kurt, mentally thanking their felonious frenemy for the most absurdly wonderful day of her life.


End file.
